St. Charles North putting it all together
Anyone who thought St. Charles North's young softball team was going to struggle this season might want to think again.
The defending Class 4A state runner-up North Stars showed again on Wednesday that there's still some pretty good talent in the cupboard and as they play more together, they and their coach believe they're just going to get better and better.
“This group is looking to make their own mark,” says North Stars' coach Tom Poulin.
St. Charles North and sophomore fireballer Sabrina Rabin certainly left their mark on South Elgin Wednesday. Rabin fired a masterful 3-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no walks, and sophomore right fielder Delaney Olinger cranked a 2-run home run as SCN stayed unbeaten in the Upstate Eight Conference with a 4-0 win. The North Stars (7-4 overall) have won 4 straight, including beating New Trier and York on Saturday.
“We've gradually improved the defense,” said Poulin. “Sara Hausl and Sabrina are the only players who saw much time on this team last year. We're still young but we're gaining confidence and to be 7-4 right now I'm real happy. And we're 4-0 in conference with a big one against Bartlett (Thursday) coming up.”
The North Stars broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning. Hausl, SCN's senior third baseman, led off with a walk, her second of the game. he went to second on Kailee Dressel's sacrifice bunt and scored when Olinger, the team's No. 8 hitter, smoked a line drive shot into the teeth of the wind and over the center field fence.
“Lately I've been hitting with more power in the cages and in games,” said Olinger, who was 2-for-3 and also made a diving catch in right field to rob South Elgin's Sam Bolin of a hit in the bottom of the fourth. “I was just trying to focus on what I needed to do as a hitter and not drop my bathead.”
“She's been hitting the ball real hard,” said Poulin of Olinger. “We started her down there in the order and I feel comfortable with her down there.”
With Rabin in control, that was all the scoring the North Stars would need to do. South Elgin (4-12, 1-3) never got a runner past first base. Alyssa Buddle had two of South Elgin's three singles and Brittany Koss the other.
“She's really hitting her spots well and changing speeds,” said Poulin of Rabin, who is now 4-2 for the season. “She's throwing in the mid-60s. She's a tough one right now.”
Rabin, who also had 2 hits, says the more she pitches, the better she feels about her game, and her team.
“The more I pitch the more my speed picks up,” she said. “When I hit my spots I get faster. I think we have a lot of talent on this team. If we put it together we can be a dangerous team.”
The North Stars added a run in the fifth. Freshman Kaitlyn Waslawski led off by reaching on an error, stole second and scored on a one-out single up the middle by sophomore Emily Brodner. The Stars added their final run in the top of the seventh when Hausl, who reached base all four times up, shot a two-out single up the middle that scored Mickey Goetz, who had doubled.
Taylor Rees (0-2) suffered the loss in the circle for the Storm. She struck out 4 and walked 3 and gave up 10 hits.
“You can't win if you don't hit and (Rabin) pitched well. She was tough,” said South Elgin coach Jason Schaal. “I don't know if there's a faster pitcher in the conference than Sabrina. We were definitely better defensively today and Taylor Rees pitched well. She really only threw one bad pitch and that one left the yard. We just have to put a complete game together. We've been struggling at the plate.”